INTRODUCTION: For patients with advanced cancer, timely access to palliative care can improve quality of life and enable patients to participate in decisions about their end-of-life care. However, in a UK population of 2500 patients who died from cancer, one-third did not receive specialist palliative care, and of those who did, the duration of involvement was too short to maximise the benefits. Initiating a conversation about palliative care is challenging for some health professionals and patients often have unmet information needs and misconceptions about palliative care...

Latinos are the largest and fastest growing minority population group in the United States, and children in low-income Latino families are at elevated risk of becoming overweight or having obesity. A child&rsquo;s home is an important social environment in which he/she develops and maintains dietary and physical activity (PA) habits that ultimately impact weight status. Previous research suggests the parents are central to creating a home environment that facilitates or hinders the development of children&rsquo;s early healthy eating and PA habits...

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: From 1640-1796, the Dutch East India Company (VOC) occupied the island of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). Several VOC officers had a keen interest in the medicinal application of the local flora. The Leiden University Library holds a two-piece codex entitled: Icones Plantarum Malabaricarum, adscriptis nominibus et viribus, Vol. I. & II. (Illustrations of Plants from the Malabar, assigned names and strength). This manuscript contains 262 watercolour drawings of medicinal plants from Sri Lanka, with handwritten descriptions of local names, habitus, medicinal properties and therapeutic applications...

BACKGROUND: During the past decades Streptococcus pneumoniae has developed significant resistance to many classes of antimicrobial drugs. Potential risk factors for colonization of the nasopharynx by Streptococcus pneumoniae in children and for carriage of drug resistant strains were examined. METHODS: Between 2007 and 2008 nasopharyngeal swabs were collected from 402 children 6 months to 5 years old visiting the public sector immunization centers and outpatient departments as well as offices of paediatricians from private practice in Nicosia district in Cyprus...

AIM OF THE STUDY: At present about 2 million people need care in Germany, about one third of them live in old people's homes or nursing homes. Outpatient emergency care of nursing home residents is ensured by primary care physicians, the medical emergency service and the emergency services. Emergency care has rarely been examined from the perspective of nurses. Therefore, in our study, we investigated how the nurses perceive medical care in medical emergencies and what suggestions for improvements they have...

Despite the known consequences associated with children's exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV), numerous children exposed to IPV never access victim services and/or mental health treatment. Informed by the Child Development-Community Policing Program (CD-CP), the Child Trauma Response Team (CTRT) is designed to provide a coordinated, immediate, trauma-informed, and interdisciplinary response to children, adolescents, and their impacted family members who are exposed to severe IPV. The aim of this study was to explore the feasibility of the CTRT from the perspective of the key stakeholders and to identify what facilitated and/or hindered the collaborative model...

INTRODUCTION: Rural family physicians are often required to meet a wide variety of medical service demands that are otherwise the responsibility of specialty physicians in urban centres. However, many rural physicians enjoy the practice variety and ability to meet patients' medical needs through this wider spectrum of care. We aimed to quantify and summarize the workload and clinical disorders seen by rural family physicians in Saskatchewan relative to urban family physicians. METHODS: We used Saskatchewan Ministry of Health billing data for 2015/16 to compare rural and urban care provision...

This issue includes several excellent observational studies prompted by physicians' clinical questions. Many people use lots of menthol cough drops-does the menthol overall lengthen the cough duration? When should we intensify treatment of older individuals with diabetes? Do occipital nerve blocks work for acute migraine headaches? Did you know that the plantar fascia can rupture? What happens to those patients with chest pain but low pretest probability for serious cardiac disease who are admitted to the hospital? Acupuncture can work well-for the patients-but how can we incorporate it into the usual pace of the family medicine office? Is it a win-lose situation when medical assistant roles are expanded? How many practice sites do physicians have and does that make a difference in the number or type of health personnel shortage areas? What would you guess on the presence of humor in the medical office-more or less than half of the visits; introduced by doctors or patients; primary care or specialty doctors?...

Objectives Statute for the Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Program requires that states and territories receiving Program funding assess improvements for participating families across six areas that address maternal and child well-being. In 2015, the MIECHV Program performance measurement system was redesigned to allow for national-level analyses and cross-grantee comparisons. The new measures were aligned with other federal performance measures to help ensure context for program analyses...

Introduction: Attitudes of individuals who provide HIV care towards prescribing Preexposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) to at-risk populations have been studied, but few studies indicate if family physicians would be willing to prescribe PrEP as most family physicians do not specialize in HIV medicine. Few data exist on the perceived barriers preventing family physicians from prescribing PrEP. The purpose of this project was to assess the attitudes and perceived barriers of family physicians in Kansas towards prescribing PrEP to high risk patient populations...

OBJECTIVE: The aims of this study were to illustrate the quality, safety, cost-effectiveness, and ethics of consumer engagement initiatives and identify promising practices and leadership strategies used by nursing leaders. METHODS: A literature review was performed with supplementary interviews conducted with 25 key nursing informants including nursing executives and chief nursing officers at acute care hospitals, community health centers, policy institutions, and quality and safety organizations...

OBJECTIVE: In order to reduce nonadherence and treatment abandonment of children with cancer in El Salvador, institutions located nearby the patients' homes were involved to provide support. Methodological approach: Health clinics and municipality offices in the patients' communities were asked to assist families who were not promptly located after missing hospital appointments, or those whose financial limitations were likely to impede continuation of treatment. Data was collected about the number of contacted institutions, the nature of help provided, staff's time investments, and parents' perceptions about the intervention...

The migratory flows to Europe from the African countries, Asia and Middle East, have hugely intensified in the recent years. In 2016, more than 98,000 out of a total of 260,000 migrants across the Mediterranean Sea arrived in Italy and in May 2017, the trend of arrivals is: Italy +576%; Greece -39% compared to previous years. Some migrants die before touching the sole of the European continent, during the crossing, often afforded with ships, made available by unscrupulous smugglers or criminal organizations, which are unsuitable for this type of transportation...

Studies have generally supported telehealth as a feasible, effective, and safe alternative to in-office visits. Telehealth may also be of particular benefit to couples/families interested in relational treatments, as it addresses some of the barriers that may be more prominent for families, such as childcare and scheduling difficulties. Therapists interested in expanding their practice to include telehealth should understand ethical and practical considerations of this modality. This article discusses areas unique to the delivery of telehealth to couples and families...

Ensuring optimal health for children requires a population-based approach and collaboration between pediatrics and public health. The prevention of major threats to children's health (such as behavioral health issues) and the control and management of chronic diseases, obesity, injury, communicable diseases, and other problems cannot be managed solely in the pediatric office. The integration of clinical practice with public health actions is necessary for multiple levels of disease prevention that involve the child, family, and community...

Context: Family Health Advisory Services (FHAS) posting as well as its assessment is resource demanding but fails to enjoy priority. Study focuses on a holistic overview of the assessment process to understand need for change. Aims: The aim of this study is to identify perceived gaps in current assessment practices related to FHAS posting. Settings and Design: A cross-sectional mixed method study among all the V semester students currently undergoing assessment for the posting, past students (selected VII semester students and interns), preceptors (supervising residents - postgraduate students in department and senior resident, health assistants, medical social service officer), and involved faculty...

Dr Valentin Lucas was born in Labin on 19 March 1873. His ancestors moved to Labin from Gora (near Labin) in the 17th century. Valentin was a common name in his family. His family was well known for having many well educated members including lawyers, doctors, and priests. The last member of their family was Giacomo who committed suicide few years after the Second World War. According to now known facts, we can say that Dr Valen Lucas was the first doctor in Rijeka who specialised in gynaecology, obstetrics and venereology, with the reputation and knowledge from working in Trieste and Vienna...

BACKGROUND: Child maltreatment is a significant public health issue in the United States. Yet, fewer than half of pediatricians discuss behavioral, developmental, or parenting issues with parents. OBJECTIVE: This paper describes the testing of bundles of tools and processes, part of a larger intervention, Practicing Safety, targeted at changing physician and staff behavior to identify families at risk for child maltreatment, provide anticipatory guidance, refer to community resources, and follow-up and track at-risk families...

Aim To identify the reasons why patients with minor complaints choose emergency departments (EDs) as a first contact of care and whether dissatisfaction with primary care services influences their decisions. METHODS: In this study, a self-completed survey called EUROPEP was given to 535 outpatients who were admitted to the XXXXX Hospital in Bursa and examined in the green zone in July 2015. Patients were asked about their complaints and why they preferred EDs as a first contact of care...

The primary care office offers an ideal setting to encourage parenting behaviors that promote early childhood development. We conducted a pilot study to establish feasibility and acceptability of Sit Down and Play ( SDP ), a brief primary care-based program to facilitate positive parenting behaviors through take-home play activities. A prospective 1-month study was conducted in an urban primary care clinic. SDP was administered to 30 caregivers of 6-12 month old children while they waited for their well-child appointment...